Kids, Police Use CPR To Save South Brunswick Dad Having Heart Attack

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ —Thanks to their skills in CPR, three local boys were able to save their father from a heart attack. James Hart, an adjunct professor at Rutgers University and pastor at Abundant Life Family Worship made a full recovery, thanks to the combined efforts of his sons, local police and EMS.

Hart had finished coaching his son’s 7th and 8th-grade basketball team on Feb. 4, when he began to drive home while not feeling too well.

On the 10-minute ride home, the 46-year-old told his sons Daniel (8th grade) and Gabriel (7th grade) that he was having chest pains. James swerved on Henderson Road, got the car to the home’s driveway and collapsed on the front porch.

Daniel immediately turned his father over to check if he was breathing, while Gabriel called 911.

When Daniel realized his father wasn’t breathing, he started chest compression. The boys’ elder brother Sam, an 11th grader, was in the backyard with their dog when he realized what was happening. Sam and Daniel then moved their father inside the house and continued giving him CPR.

South Brunswick Police Officers Kyle Klemas and Aaron Parks were nearby and arrived within four minutes of the 911 call, police said.

After arriving at the Hart home, the officers continued CPR and applied a defibrillator. A minute later, the Kendall Park First Aid Squad arrived and the defibrillator gave a “shock,” helping James regain his pulse and began to breathe again.

EMS and paramedics arrived and took James to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.

Doctors told him he suffered a “widowmaker heart attack,” According to the American Heart Association, only 12 percent of people who suffer from a “widowmaker heart attack” outside the hospital manage to survive.

Police Chief Raymond Hayducka credited the quick actions of Hart’s sons and the fast response by officers and EMS with making all the difference.

“When seconds counted, every action they took made the difference. These young people knew CPR and started it right away. The officers quickly got there and applied the defibrillator.” Hayducka said. “The more people learn CPR the more lives that can be saved. Knowing CPR should be as basic as getting a driver’s license.”

The Police Chief and Hart family also credited the Crossroads South Middle School with starting a program that trains all 7th grade students in CPR. The school through a partnership with Penn Medicine Princeton provides training on CPR.

“These young people have no idea if they would ever use this training, but they were prepared and acted when it counted,” Hayducka said.

To learn more about becoming CPR certified contact Penn Medicine Princeton Health at 1.888-897-8979 or go to https://www.princetonhcs.org/events?type=cprfirstaid.

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